My encounter with neuromarketing dates back to 1994. At that time, my country, Mexico, was experiencing one of the worst economic and financial crises in its history. The value of the dollar skyrocketed from $3.4 to $7.2 Mexican pesos per dollar in just one week, a situation very similar to what is happening today. During that time, I was working in a family business founded by my grandmother. While people were struggling to keep their homes or cars, those of us in commerce were striving to retain the few customers who dared to visit the stores.
The lack of family income due to poor sales led me to study economics because I wanted to anticipate any crisis like the one I experienced. Influenced by my mother, a psychologist by profession and dedicated to sales, I came across neuroeconomics, a science that analyses the role of the brain when individuals evaluate buying and selling decisions, categorising risks and rewards. It was there that I discovered my true vocation, marketing, as while economic principles tell us that as we lower the price of a product, sales increase, it’s not always the case.
Until now, marketers believed that by correctly applying all the fields of action of marketing, we could access and persuade the consumer’s mind, thus increasing our chances of sale. However, with the arrival of neuromarketing, a new way of analysing the brain processes of the customer when making a purchase decision, we can leverage that knowledge to increase sales.
If you’re looking to help your customers make a purchasing decision, follow these neuromarketing tips. I assure you; you’ll be surprised.
The customer is your best friend.
Communication with customers should bring them closer to your business. Use words like ‘you’ or ‘your’ to generate a more personalised connection. Remember that to gain someone’s trust, we must get closer and get to know them: ask them what they like or what their needs are. Surely, the next time they need a product or service, they’ll remember you as their first choice, just because of the attention you gave them at that moment.
Good stories for excellent shoppers.
Those of us in sales know that selling to a woman can be a bit more challenging than selling to a man. Neuromarketing teaches us that women have emotional strength, and their purchasing decisions are less rational regarding functionality, price, and quality, and that the products they prefer are those that allow them to experience emotions when using them. To undertake a good purchasing process and help your client, converse with her and listen to her. If you have an interesting story about the product you sell, tell her. In the case of women with children or family, think that she’s looking for something that benefits hers.
Your product and its top 3 features.
If your potential customer visits your website looking for information about your product or service and finds countless benefits, they may perceive some confusion that ultimately diverts them from their decision. Focus on a maximum of 3 attributes that define and highlight the differential value of your product compared to the competition. A clear and direct message sells more than one overloaded with text.
Male audience, technological and modern.
Men tend to seek products that allow them to be at the technological forefront and demonstrate their mastery in front of their peers. By nature, they need to see a wide variety of products and know their features, usability, practicality, etc. Place the products within their reach so they can observe them carefully. Use brief but sales arguments that make them feel like the leader, that through that product, they’ll be able to ‘provide’ for and protect their family or loved ones.
Generate your own success stories.
“A satisfied customer attracts 2 more customers, but an unsatisfied customer takes away 8.” If you want your customers to be your best business partners, strive to offer them the best service. With certainty, a satisfied customer will agree to leave a favourable comment on your Facebook FanPage, which will be seen by all their followers, even those who are just getting to know your brand. If we obtain our own success stories, we create that perception of being a reliable and efficient service provider, two attributes that are well received by customers.
Want to sell? Launch an offer.
The old trick used by Middle Eastern sales masters like the Jews and Arabs today brings us excellent results. Phrases like ‘Clearance sale,’ ‘Monthly promotion,’ or ‘End-of-season offer’ act in people’s brains as a clear invitation to take advantage of that opportunity that ‘will never happen again.’ If you make an attractive offer to your customers and promote it via email or through your website, it’s likely that your sales of that product, and others in your catalogue, will increase.
If you want to grow your business, use neuromarketing, as it will drive you to innovate in the fields of action of traditional marketing: market intelligence, product or service design, communications, prices, branding, positioning, targeting, channels, and sales.
Although it’s new and its path is just beginning, this discipline has a lot of ground to cover, but undoubtedly, it will not only allow you to market your products more assertively but also to create products aligned with people’s needs to grow your business. Interested?
*Colaboración especial de Francisco Nuñez Ávila, Gerente de Marketing de Altavoz Comunicaciones; asesor en estrategias publicitarias; y conferencista sobre temas de marketing y marketing digital.